Album Review: LAINIE KAZAN (Four Remastered Classic ’60s Albums: “Right Now!” [1966], “Lainie Kazan” [1966], “The Love Album” [1967], and “Love Is Lainie” [1968])

SHAZAM, KAZAN!

So, have you heard? Lainie Kazan‘s 60s tunes are now just a click away on all those streaming sites. We’re talking the kind of songs that make you want to break out in a dramatic Broadway pose or croon under a streetlamp—showtunes and the classics, you know? Now, before she starred in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (1-3) and My Favorite Year (the movie and the Broadway show), before she turned into the punchline of Bette Midler’s zingers, and way before that awkward moment with the five-finger discount at Gelson’s, Lainie was belting out notes like nobody’s business. Let’s be real, the lady had pipes. But life wasn’t just a walk down the red carpet. She had to tango with a few hurdles—like her battle with the scale and her no-filter personality. Those things can throw a wrench in your path to the spotlight. But hey, that’s showbiz, right?

We’re talking about a quartet of albums that were pretty much the unicorns of music collectors – never made it to CD, never streamed, just hanging out in their vinyl glory since the swinging ’60s. The albums were largely conceived and conducted by Peter Daniels, who met Lainie while conducting the original Broadway production of Funny Girl and eventually became her husband (Lainie was Barbra Streisand’s understudy).

So, what’s in this musical treasure chest? We’ve got Right Now! from ’66, self-titled Lainie Kazan also from ’66 (because why not double the fun in one year?), The Love Album getting all mushy in ’67, and Love Is Lainie wrapping it up in ’68. These gems were MGM Records’ pride and joy back in the day, and now, thanks to some audio wizards at Universal Music Group’s Republic Records, they’ve been polished up from the original tapes for our listening pleasure. They’re available for streaming, with a deluxe CD set being planned for next year. Be forewarned that some MP3 downloads, such as on Amazon, may not be the remastered albums.

Right Now! (1966), Lainie’s debut album, was released in February of the year to coincide with a concert engagement at Mister Kelly’s, Chicago’s famed supper club. Produced by Don Costa – the Grammy-nominated veteran behind classic albums from Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, and Tony Bennett – the record bears all the signatures of Lainie’s recordings, combining beloved chestnuts with distinguished discoveries. Opening with a rousing “Blues in the Night,” the LP features two songs from the rarely staged Harold Arlen and Truman Capote Broadway musical House of Flowers, the title cut and “Don’t Like Goodbyes.” Her haunting interpretation of the traditional folk song “Black, Black, Black,” better known as “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair,” usually taken at a languid pace, is transformed into a tempestuous showstopper. The album’s centerpiece is a dazzling rhythmical version of Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley’s “Feeling Good,” altogether different from Nina Simone’s now-standard arrangement.

1) Blues in the Night (Harold Arlen / Johnny Mercer)
2) Danny Boy (Frederic Weatherly)
3) Blue Skies (Irving Berlin)
4) Joey, Joey, Joey (Frank Loesser)
5) House of Flowers (Harold Arlen / Truman Capote)
6) Black, Black, Black (Traditional)
7) My Man’s Gone Now (George Gershwin /Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward)
8) No More Songs for Me (David Shire / Richard Maltby, Jr.)
9) I Cried for You (Gus Arnheim / Abe Lyman / Arthur Freed)
10) Feeling Good (Anthony Newley / Leslie Bricusse)
11) Don’t Like Goodbyes (Harold Arlen / Truman Capote)
12) I’m Shooting High (Jimmy McHugh / Ted Koehler)

Lainie Kazan (1966), her second album released that year, is anchored by treasured songs from Broadway (My Fair Lady’s “Show Me”) and Hollywood (Meet Me in St. Louis’s “The Trolley Song”), in addition to two selections from the Gershwins’ and DuBose Heyward’s Porgy & Bess (“Summertime” and “My Man’s Gone Now”). “Peel Me a Grape,” known later from slinkier, slower recordings by Blossom Dearie and Diana Krall, is an exciting up-tempo tour de force, finishing with that distinctive Kazan cackle. The lively “Lark Day” was co-written by The New Christy Minstrels guitarist Art Podell. “(We’ll Meet) In the Spring,” a tender ballad written just for her by Peter Daniels, allows Lainie to show her softer side.

1) I’m All Right Now (Joe Lubin)
2) I Will Be Waiting for You (I Will Wait for You) (Michel Legrand/Norman Gimbel)
3) Peel Me a Grape (Dave Frishberg)
4) The Trolley Song (Hugh Martin / Ralph Blane)
5) I Loves You Porgy (George Gershwin /Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward)
6) Can I Trust You? (Memo Remigi / Paul Vance / Eddie Snyder)
7) Summertime (George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward)
8) Lark Day (Art Podell / Walter Schorr)
9) Show Me (Frederick Loewe / Alan Jay Lerner)
10) (We’ll Meet) In the Spring (Peter Daniels)
11) What Now My Love (Gilbert Bécaud / Carl Sigman)

The Love Album (1967) is the most lush and sweeping collection of the four albums. The strings echo Lainie’s emotions as she dives into paeans to doomed romance like “I’m a Fool to Want You” and “If You Go Away.” But she also relishes the blush of love in Frank Loesser’s “Warm All Over,” from his 1956 operatic musical The Most Happy Fella, and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “I Have Dreamed.” The lightly swinging “Sweet Talk” – a Cy Coleman gem, written with lyricist Floyd Huddleston – is a sensuous delight. She includes a rare pop version of “Take It Slow, Joe” from the Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg Broadway musical Jamaica, a 1957 Lena Horne vehicle. The LP concludes with an unusually delicate take on “Everybody Loves Somebody,” of course a signature number of Dean Martin, Lainie’s longtime mentor and champion.

1) Until It’s Time for You to Go (Buffy Sainte-Marie)
2) I’m a Fool to Want You (Jack Wolf / Joel Herron / Frank Sinatra)
3) I Have Dreamed (Richard Rodgers / Oscar Hammerstein II)
4) Sweet Talk (Cy Coleman / Floyd Huddleston)
5) Nature Boy (Eden Ahbez)
6) If You Go Away (Jacques Brel / Rod McKuen)
7) Take It Slow, Joe (Harold Arlen / E. Y. Harburg)
8) I’ve Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good (Duke Ellington / Paul Francis Webster)
9) Once (Claus Ogerman / Guy Wood)
10) If You Were the Only Boy in the World (Nat D. Ayer / Clifford Grey)
11) Warm All Over (Frank Loesser)
12) Everybody Loves Somebody (Irving Taylor / Ken Lane)

Love Is Lainie (1968) marks an appealing shift from the standards and show music of the first records to more contemporary material, all rendered with that trademark Lainie flair. The album features an all-star list of arrangers, including Grammy-winner Claus Ogerman (Billie Holiday, George Benson), Oscar-nominee Pat Williams (Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka), and Grammy-nominee Bob Florence (Count Basie, Sergio Mendes). Burt Bacharach and Hal David are represented by four tracks, including two less often heard songs: “The Windows of the World” and “They Don’t Give Medals (To Yesterday’s Heroes).” A definite highlight is her bravura performance of Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny,” often recorded in the ‘60s and beyond, but rarely heard with such thrilling grandeur. The LP is rounded out with selections from the Young Rascals, Bobbie Gentry, and the song “Flower Child,” the rare psychedelia entry in the Kazan canon. The album ends with the plaintive spoken-word piece “Song Without Words”— set to the sparkling guitar of Wrecking Crew legend Tommy Tedesco – one of a few album tracks written by the decade’s best-selling musical poet, Rod McKuen.

1) A House Is Not a Home (Burt Bacharach / Hal David)
2) The Look of Love (Burt Bacharach / Hal David)
3) When I Look in Your Eyes (Leslie Bricusse)
4) Sunny (Bobby Hebb)
5) Night Song (Rod McKuen / Mort Garson)
6) An Angel Died (I Saw an Angel Die) (Bobbie Gentry)
7) They Don’t Give Medals (To Yesterday’s Heroes) (Burt Bacharach / Hal David)
8) How Can I Be Sure (Felix Cavaliere / Eddie Brigati)
9) Flower Child (Sydelle Kern / Jean Galvis)
10) The Windows of the World (Burt Bacharach / Hal David)
11) Song Without Words (Jacques Brel / Rod McKuen)